Tokul East- Flowtron - Dec 2012 video

We rode up at Tokul East today and I got video of what Flowtron currently looks like.
It follows pretty much the same route it always has, but it has changed a bit. The crew out there have been working hard to get it riding good and have added some new "features". There is now a step up on the 7th switchback which isnt difficult but it is a lot of fun. A big drop looks to be instore for switchback #9 (I hope!) , there is a drop on 12 and 13, and a grand total of 19 switchbacks by my count.

Funny...by the time we got out to FT yesterday (probably 10:30 or so), most of the snow on the trail had melted.

Trail gnomes did some additional work cleaning up a couple of the g-outs and smoothing some rough spots. Also did a substantial rebuild of one of the problem right-handers near the top of the old FT line. The corner's been pulled out further, the inside line was steepened and the berm was built up way higher. It should be easier to carry speed now.

Everything's still running a touch slow and some of the corners at the bottom are tighter than we'd like; but overall, it's getting there. We're also going to do work on the top section (aka Newtron) to smooth out the flow a bit and berm up some corners. Hoping that it'll be ready for another Ladyhawk Chainless Throwdown by the summer...

My friends on small and medium size bikes like the drops on the trail, but the guys with the large and XL bikes say they kind of buck a bit. I think the first drop is definitely more technical that it was pre-logging. It use to be a straight drop at speed and now it has a flat lip that seems to send you up a little.

That first drop definitely has a lip to it and bucks you up a bit. Would love to see a straight drop to carry more speed. That first G-out got me in the fall and I washed out when it wasn't packed down. Wasn't quite ready for that one on my first run on the new stuff.

GeeProh, thanks for all the hard work you and your group are doing on FT. Can't wait to see the continued improvement.

I think riders get waaaay too "hung" up on the logging issues. Seems like no one complains about places like Galbraith or Capitol when they get logged like they do about Tokul. Yeah, one costs money now. But, besides that.
Thanks to those that choose to re-build, it will be 40 years before that happens again. It's the PNW and this is part of living and riding here. Quit yer bi%#^*in'....
The trail will be even better than before in terms of sustainability and design. In a few years, we'll miss being able to see other riders aling the line and the view we've grown accustomed to.

The one problem it will have this next summer, is the sun will dry the crap out of the dirt, causing really loose dusty conditions that will erode the trail.

We got to test this out with the epic dry summer we had this year. It was bad, but not quite as bad as I had expected given the fact that the new trail tread hadn't really firmed up before the dry season started. Tokul East has always been more of a wet season spot anyways. I'm more worried about the absence of the pine needles that mixed in just a bit of nice organic that helped hold the soil together.

Of course, we'll see what another couple decades of climate change do for us. Beachfront partying in the 356th parking lot!

One positive to the logging is it will be easier to ride SNOWTRON this winter! I've always thought it would be fun to ski or snowboard after some decent lowland snowfall and with no trees the line will fill in quicker!

One positive to the logging is it will be easier to ride SNOWTRON this winter! I've always thought it would be fun to ski or snowboard after some decent lowland snowfall and with no trees the line will fill in quicker!

I think riders get waaaay too "hung" up on the logging issues. Seems like no one complains about places like Galbraith or Capitol when they get logged like they do about Tokul. Yeah, one costs money now. But, besides that.
Thanks to those that choose to re-build, it will be 40 years before that happens again. It's the PNW and this is part of living and riding here. Quit yer bi%#^*in'....

Agreed, BBQ.

Yep, for the first decade, it will definitely get looser (sp?) during the summer. That said, like GPhroh said that's been the case out there even with the trees and why many of us only rode TKE in the Fall - Spring. The reason the area drains so well is because of the glacial till and it's the same reason it gets crazy loose in the summers.

The bigger maintenance issue will be the fireweed, salmon berries, et al encroaching on the trail during Spring/summer. It'll require brushing 1-2x per year and I recommend using a killstick (gas powered weedeater with a metal disc on the end) and go as wide (and low) as you possibly can. Trails like Wonderland and the Woodle on Galby which are both a decade old now get hit twice a year with the weedeater.

In many ways, we already pay to ride and build on Galbraith because we have to purchase our insurance to play up there - which isn't super cheap. Most of the riding public has no idea and likely doesn't contribute to the club, so they probably just think it's "free".

*insert the sound of a record needle skipping and sliding across the grooves here*

Originally Posted by ebxtreme

In many ways, we already pay to ride and build on Galbraith because we have to purchase our insurance to play up there - which isn't super cheap. Most of the riding public has no idea and likely doesn't contribute to the club, so they probably just think it's "free".

Wait, WHAT!?!?

I had no idea that the club (The WHIMPS?) pays insurance to ride there. I can guarantee that most of us down in Seattle have no clue, and I can think of several peeps that would likely donate at least a few bucks to help. Do you have specific fund raisers or is it just out of the club's general fund? Do you put the call out for help? And most importantly, why am I so clueless?

*insert the sound of a record needle skipping and sliding across the grooves here*

Wait, WHAT!?!?

I had no idea that the club (The WHIMPS?) pays insurance to ride there. I can guarantee that most of us down in Seattle have no clue, and I can think of several peeps that would likely donate at least a few bucks to help. Do you have specific fund raisers or is it just out of the club's general fund? Do you put the call out for help? And most importantly, why am I so clueless?

Yep, the WMBC pays for insurance that covers the club/land owner and another policy that covers the B.O.D. and the trail builders specifically. Granted, the Recreational Use Statute is "supposed" to protect against claims as long as they aren't charging to use the land, but that doesn't preclude someone from suing us. The insurance policy basically covers the potential legal fees to defend us in case of a frivolous lawsuit.

As Tarekith alluded, we make some dough from the map sales. In some ways, the logging has helped those because so many trails have been altered, some have gone away completely (intentionally) that the older maps are missing a bunch of stuff.

We also hold a couple of fundraisers each year. The shoot the trails event in the Fall is huge for us and we've had 450+ people come out to those the past couple of years and have had huge support from our local shops and industry folks (contour, Kona, Transition, FSA/Gravity, etc.).

So, while folks have been b!tching about paying to ride/build at Tokul, consider that they logged over 900 acres on Galby and we've rebuilt almost half of our trail mileage (21.8 miles of trail to be exact) in the past year and a half. At the end of the day, these are commercial working forests......if they weren't, they'd probably be another subdivision of McMansions.